Please feel free to copy and distribute this pamphlet to those in your parish. If you would like to purchase printed copies, please contact the Office of the Prime Bishop.

CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP – WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Christian stewardship and Christian giving work hand in hand. Generosity is one of the primary ways in which Christians show the fruit of the Spirit at work in their lives. How important our faith and our parish is to us is evidenced in how we use our TIME, TALENT and TREASURE towards God’s work.

PARISH STEWARDSHIP:

One of the ways our church is unique in its democratic structure is that the people purchase, build, and maintain their own Church property in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of the Polish National Catholic Church. Just as our homes must be maintained and the bills paid to keep the lights on, heat working and everything running in proper order the same holds true for our spiritual homes.

Some only view the meeting of their church obligations as attending Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. Others acknowledge that attendance at church is one of the many gifts received to enrich our lives with the Word of God and the receipt of Sacraments. It is easy to focus on the spiritual fulfillment, knowledge and growth that is the center of our attendance. Of course, that is the basis for learning more of our faith and advancing our relationship with Christ. We trust the church will be there with open doors when we come to worship.

As we worship in the pews, it is sometimes difficult to be aware of the earthly concerns that impact our ability to worship: our Pastor’s salary and health care, utility bills, organist, care of the church grounds, insurances, maintenance and repairs, mortgage, and the list continues. Do you know all Parish finances are the responsibility of the parishioners?

Many of these same items appear on our household budgets. Imagine trying to cover these expenses with a few dollars a week and a bake sale fundraiser. None of us would even consider that a reasonable possibility.

We are also called upon to care for each other, to look for opportunities to serve one another. It is then that we abide in Him and show gratitude for all that He has given to us and for us.

BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP: THE TRUTH ABOUT MONEY

Biblical stewardship requires that a Christian view money differently from the way the secular world views it. The secular world equates affluence with success and happiness. Therefore, society constantly struggles to acquire as much wealth as possible. The Bible, however, exposes the worthlessness of such a struggle by revealing the truth about money. The Psalms proclaim, “But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish” Psalm 49:12. No matter how much one struggles for wealth, death still awaits because money cannot add anything to one’s life.

Let us show that our heart is with Jesus by how we choose to support His Church – see Matthew 6:21

Verse of the Day

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. — Matthew 2:4-6